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PRDH - It really was a tight finish there, good luck rebuilding the squad and I hope you can get back to dominating Portugal. It might interest you to know that Braga won the league in my game, by a whole 10 points difference to Porto as well. Benfica only finished in 5th behind Sporting and Vit. Setubal...

PRDH - It really was a tight finish there, good luck rebuilding the squad and I hope you can get back to dominating Portugal. It might interest you to know that Braga won the league in my game, by a whole 10 points difference to Porto as well. Benfica only finished in 5th behind Sporting and Vit. Setubal...

Wow! That's a pretty hefty turn around.

My man Pedro Cardoso is off the mark. A 90+3 minute winner. The boy's already a legend! Oh, and in doing so he has also broken the Lusitânia Açores and Premier League records for youngest goalscorer. Good lad!

I'm so angry with myself. Marius Blanchard - that brilliant French striker we have (who only scored once last year) is six months away from his contract expiring. He's been much better this season and I've tried to put a big minimum fee release clause in his new contract. After plenty of to-ing and fro-ing he rejected my offer and is now headed elsewhere on a free.

GAH!!!

It's so infuriating it almost made me load up an old save! But not a chance, my mistake, so I must deal with the loss

iacovone - You have my sympathy. Things like that are so infuriating. I'm playing the Champions League group games without my left back because I managed to not register him.

Urgh, that's so frustrating! Hope you get by without him

As for Novese, we've recovered well from my earlier rant and the three at the back is working much better. Though, that was just ruined by us blowing a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes to lose 4-3 away at Parma! That said, we're 9th after 21 games so I'll take that

iacovone - shame hearing about Blanchard, it is always so annoying to lose players on the cheap...

PRDH - do you know what the rules on qualiication to Europe from the cup are like in Portugal? I went on an awesome run, knocking out 4 top division sides to reach the Semis. I got a kind draw and will play U. Madeira, who are struggling in the second division, whilst Porto and Braga will play for the other place in the final. Whilst I think we could win the semis, I reckon pulling an upset in the final will be difficult. Question is: do you know if the runners up qualify for Europe if the winners have qualified through league position?

This was a great season for us, despite the early concern over our results. I made the decision to revolutionize our tactical approach and although it took time to tinker with the new back three, I come away at the end of the season with a degree of pleasure with how it ended up. See the Best Eleven screenshot at the bottom to see our shape.

The October and November months were tricky but in hindsight we faced a lot of the top teams in a bunch so it's not too surprising actually. Thankfully this campaign saw a vast improvement in our goalscoring. We were the seventh highest in the division with our 61.

Doing the double over Napoli was one of the year's highlights, as well as beating the champions Juventus 3-1 at home in front of the cameras. The best of the bunch was a 3-0 win at Palermo, who at the time were top of the league. There were disappointments, of course, probably no more so than blowing a 3-0 lead at Parma to lose 4-3.

So there are aspects of the tactic still to improve upon. For me though, we're like the Swansea of the division - we play very attractive football and often end games dominant in possession - it was not uncommon for us to have 70%+ at home. Results 1 | Results 2Progess

Lautaro Corno (GK) - Italian keeper signed in the summer displaced Morabito in goal. Had a great first year and at 21 could have a great career here.

Daouda Solo (DR) - continued his promising Novese career with an excellent campaign. Missed just one league game.

Dario Nieva (DC) - the lone centre-half. Did very well this year. Starting to make noises about leaving and I probably would sell if the price is right. For this formation I need a better ball playing CB. Still, he is the skipper and had a good season.

Ricardo Ledesma (DC/DM/MC) - absolute beast of a player. Wanted by a lot of clubs now and you can see why. Equally adept at DM as he is CB when Nieva is out.

Lucas (MC) - vice captain was for the most part the advanced playmaker. Had a pretty good year.

Carlo Ripa (AMRC/ST) - turning into a bit of a hero for us in the poacher's role. Missed 2 months from March with a disclocated shoulder but came back and scored in our last game. That's his best return for us. Won fans player of the year again.

Marius Blanchard (ST) - did slightly better than last year's haul of 1! Sadly just as he's hitting his stride, he's off to Racing Santander on a free. My mistake, and one I'll live to regret.

Success! Just about. We almost looked like nicking 7th until the horrible end of season fixtures caught us out.

Hit the 50 point mark or more

Success. 56 points.

Score goals. 45 or more in the league

Success. 61 goals, mainly through Ripa and Blanchard.

New Objectives:

Consolidate in the top ten

Hit the 50 point mark or more again

Try to bring more Italians to the club

I hit all my objectives this year but will remain cautious in the coming season. A repeat of our points haul would be perfect. There is a sense that a couple of sides in the current top 7 may be reachable and AC Milan have certainly dropped off the pace. Still, slow and steady wins the race! I'm also very considerate of our financial position. It's ok, but slight overspending last season led to a fresh £4m bank loan being taken out. Could do without too many of those.

Joining us in Serie A this season are: Bologna, Empoli and Varese. Departing Serie A are: Cagliari, Pescara and Salerno.

Salerno sure had an awful season though, how many did you put past them? And I had to laugh at your keepers name. In portuguese (from Brazil only I think) a corno is someone that has been cheated on by his wife. Figuratively we say that you can measure a corno by the size of his horns, which apparently grow when the wife is being naughty

Before I talk about the cup I must say I am a bit disappointed how the league campaign went. Key players weren't at their best for long periods of the season, i'm not happy with the amount of goals we let in considering last season we weren't that bad defensively. I also think we should have had another 10 goals or so as well. Maiga at left back was a star and even made the Serie A team of the year, i've whacked his asking price up to his £120M release fee as it was hard enough getting him let alone another full back to cover him. What I am pleased with is we managed to get points pretty early again so never looked like going down and obviously finishing above Milan is a good achievement.

On to the cup, thee shining light of the season and considering we had to play both the Milan clubs and Juve just to get to the final it is a big boost for the club. The final itself was a cracking game, both teams really going for it and I take all the credit for the inspired late substitution by bringing Otto on to win it late on He is nowhere near a top class player and his contract was going to run out but I just couldn't bear to let him go

I've been given a £17M budget for the summer and I plan spending it on a keeper, a center back and maybe another midfielder but we'll see how that goes. I have decided that we are going to try and attack this season so I will be playing the W-M formation and hopefully it will improve a few of the results.

Europe here we come

iacovone another solid season there mate, hopefully you can try and push a European place next year. What i'd give to have a Ledsema in my team.

Sorry sebs, you're right, I didn't. Basically I always like to have a core of players from the country I manage in so it'd be a nice side project to get on with whilst I'm managing the other objectives.

Originally Posted by corinthiano

Solid season there iacovone, well done!

Salerno sure had an awful season though, how many did you put past them? And I had to laugh at your keepers name. In portuguese (from Brazil only I think) a corno is someone that has been cheated on by his wife. Figuratively we say that you can measure a corno by the size of his horns, which apparently grow when the wife is being naughty

That's pretty funny corinthiano! He was playing in Switzerland previously so I wonder if it carries a similar comedy meaning!?

For some reason I forgot to do this last season. My mistake. No such error this time around. I had £8.75m to spend this summer and I forewent everything I aimed to do with regard to budgetary control and splurged the lot on just three players.Jose Maria Fernandez Fuentes (D/WBL) - he has become our record signing at £5.25m from Brondby. It's a lot but I've been searching for a good left back for 2 years now. I think Fuentes could be the one.

Sergio Meza Sanchez (AMR/ST) - after Marius Blanchard departed, I needed to find a suitable striker to replace him. At £3.6m Sanchez looks good enough to do that. He and Ripa up front should cause considerable problems with the pace they have. I like how determined he is too.

Giorgio Natale (AMC/ST) - how good I resist? He spent 11 years away from the club - 5 in Holland for NEC Nijmegan before heading to Napoli for 6 years. He may be 33-years-old but he's still got class and should be an able squad rotation option. As a free transfer it was impossible to say no to the first genuine Novese star. Almost brings a tear to the eye

This will probably be the only time I do a mid-season update but I think you'll agree it's worth it. We've absolutely compounded critics and naysayers (including myself) and sit top!

The problem though, is that every club in the league is now sniffing around our star players. And with the finances £5m in the red and minimum release fee clauses on just about every contract (damn those clever agents) I still expect it to go horribly wrong .

iacovone - Nice going there, hope you manage to hang on to top spot and, more importantly, to your key players!

CelticDaft98 - Another great season there, best of luck in the First Division

PRDH - In all honesty I never expected us to match up to Porto, I was only a bit dissappointed at how nervous my players got, even though I told them to enjoy the game and relax. A couple of really bad defensive passes early on in the game gave us no chance practically from the start. Main thing was European qualification, although I probably wont help Portugal much in the coefficients.

The league started excellently and we were right up there fighting for promotion up until just after the halfway stage. The after beating U. Madeira in the Semi Final of the cup the team seemed to switch off. We were also not helped by the fact that Momotenko got two major injuries which kept him out for practically the whole of the second half of the season. But we only managed two wins in 13 games and dropped right down to 8th place. At the start of the season I would be happy with that, but I was disappointed that the team fell apart like that.

Taça de Portugal Millennium

Second Round – Standard easy first game.Third Round – We were handed a tough draw against a top division side. I thought we were heading out when we ended the first half a goal behind, but we absolutely dominated the second half and managed to turn the game around.Fourth Round – Another tough draw as we played a Liga Zon Sagres side away again. In this tie we got a bit lucky though. We matched Beira-Mar in the first half, but when they had a player sent off early on in the second half we dominated the match and were able to get a winner 6 minutes before the end.Fifth Round – We played equal to Liga Zon Sagres side Gondomar, with our early goal settling the tie.Sixth Round – Our biggest upset. Setúbal had the best of the game, but we got lucky when youth product Brás finished a counter attack neatly in the first half. After that it was sit back, defend and hold on to victory.Semi Final: First Leg ǁ Second Leg- After knocking out 4 top division sides we were up against U.Madeira, who were struggling in our division. The first leg however was probably our second most disappointing game in the cup run, we dominated the game but only managed to get a 2-2 draw, with U. Madeira equalizing in the 89th minute. We did however play a lot better in the second leg and turn the tie around.Final – We never had a chance and we never expected too, it was a little disappointing to be two behind after less than 10 minutes, but I was just happy to be in the final.

I started the season only signing players for key specific positions. After our good cup run though I went transfer crazy, mainly because players who snubbed us previously decided that a loan move to our side was not a bad idea after all, meaning I had a stronger squad overall. Didn’t really work out though as most loans did not have much of an impact.

GK: Buick – Another good season by the goalkeeper, is attracting interest from top division sides.DR: Antônio – Consistent as ever, is another one with interest from other clubs. DC: Felipe – Maintained his excellent partnership with Felipe, has over 150 appearances for the club now.DC: Eduardo – Captain excellent was very decent again.DL: André Dias – I just don’t seem to need to change my back line. André would be the weak link at the moment but unless I find someone much better I don’t see the need to replace him.DMC: Jaguaré – Jaguaré came in to replace Douglas but I wasn’t 100% happy with him. We also don’t have good cover here so I think I will be bringing someone in.MC: Christoffer Ødegaard – Very happy with his first season, runs around a lot and seems to be everywhere.MC: Fabrizio Arcangeli – All my other MCs seemed to drop off a bit, so I brought Fabrizio in. Have to say that he didn’t exactly impress me.AMC: Illya Momotenko – Big dilemma here, Momotenko is very injury prone and I just can’t rely on him being fit. I have a couple of back-ups with great potential, but that can’t quite cut it out yet. So the big question squad wise for me will be: Should I sell Momotenko to free up the wages for a new playmaker or should I risk him for another season and give the promising youngsters more chances to develop?ST: Gil – Another solid season by Gil, in the second half of the season I changed gis role from supporting complete forward to poacher and he started scoring more. Will be interesting to see how he does in the new role next season.ST: Milton – What a beast. His wages are a lot higher than anyone elses in the squad but I think he is worth it, such a nuisance up front and has a hell of a left foot on him. I am really excited about the strike partnership for next year.

Other News

Finances – The board kept pumping money into the club and trying to keep it from major losses, the prize money for the league finish and runners-up medal meant we turned over a small profit. Europe will bring in a bit of money, but we would have to progress a few rounds to actually be able to get out of our financial misery.

1. Mid-table safety Success – relegation was never a threat and in the end mid-table was dissappointing.
2. Be more consistent Fail – If the season went well, consistency was still not a part of it, seemed like we were two different teams each half of the season.

Next Season Targets

1. Promotion Challenge
2. Enjoy Europe, try to get through one stage
3. Strengthen the midfield

I have had the biggest wage budget rise to date, now we have € 14k p/w to spend. I think if players stay fit and we can keep up our performances throughout the year than I think we can have a go at promotion, although I don’t think we are quite there yet. Am also looking forward to Europe, will probably be our only campaign for a while, so getting through one stage would be nice, but I am not expecting anything.

I'm stunned. This will go down as one of my greatest ever seasons on Football Manager. Having come 10th last season and not majorly improving the squad, we embarked on a heralded year at the Pastorino Stadium.

We started superbly, new striker Sergio Meza Sanchez practically scored a goal a game for the first half of the season as we continued our new found goalscoring touch.

As we sat toward the summit of Serie A it wasn't until November that we lost our first game. Inter had shown themselves to be the dominant force in the league as holders Fiorentina wilted and we were smashed 3-0 at home. It was disappointing but we refocused well to cement our place as a title-contending team.

We lost just twice more all season (in all comps), once at home to Fiorentina in January and again to Inter in the reverse fixture. This ultimately prevented us taking top spot as well as one too many draws. Nonetheless any season that has just three defeats is not to be sniffed at.

Our best moments were winning 2-1 in the Olimpico over Roma and 4-0 at Juventus Stadium.Results 1 | Results 2Progess
The Cup:

Suitably our form in the TIM Cup also turned for the better as we went and won the trophy! Beating Genoa away 4-2 and third-placed Atalanta 3-1 at home set us up with Juve in a two legged semi final. A great, fortunate, 1-0 win away set us up nicely to book our place in the final with a 2-0 win at home.

We took to the Olimpico to claim the trophy against Udinese. In a fantastic cup final that saw us take the lead and then fall 2-1 behind, we took the game to extra time where Carlo Ripa won us our first major trophy!
The Squad

Lautaro Corno (GK) - he really is fantastic. Has improved considerably this season and kept a hell of a lot of clean sheets.

Carlo Ripa (AMRC/ST) - even though he's not top class, he has been brilliant for us ever since signing from Roma. Scored about a goal every other game. He is now the first icon I've had at the club.

Sergio Meza Sanchez (AMR/ST) - the revelation and an instant hit with the fans. 32 goals in 44 games is stunning. Only missed one game all season when I decided to rest him. Won signing of the season and finished 2nd in top goalscorer as well as fans player of the year.

Giorgio Natale (AMC/ST) - not quite the fairy tale end but I'd hoped but he did score a couple of goals to take his haul to 64 in his Novese career. Decided to retire this summer. Good servant to the club and it was nice to have him back for a final swansong.

The club are investing £3.2m we just don't have in an expansion to the Pastorino Stadium to add 2,787 seats. Much needed as we've our average attendance last year was just 200 people below full capacity. Capacity will go up to 15,293 on completion.

Objectives Complete?

Consolidate in the top ten

Success! By some way too.

Hit the 50 point mark or more again

Success! 83 points. I wonder if we can attain that at all in the next few seasons.

Try to bring more Italians to the club

Not exactly. Brought Giorgio Natale here but he's now retired. It's time to begin scouring the Italian U19's and U21's
New Objectives:

Make it back into Europe

Hit the 65 point mark or more again

Keep hold of Ledesma, Velazquez, Meza Sanchez and Guillano

The main objectives from last year were hit and by some way. This coming year I can't possibly expect us to repeat what we achieved again. I think with the small squad, the poor finances and the extra fixtures Europe brings, I'd be pleased with a top 6 finish. I do want to have a good bash at Europe though, just to test this current side.

Good season corinthiano despite falling away. It's a shame obviously that Momotenko was injured for so long. Is there anyone on the radar that could replace him? Or would it be worth hoping for a less injury hit campaign next year?

Remarkable progress in the cup, and I see you found the answer to your question about European qualification! Good luck on your travels

Nice to see you managed to maintain a hold near the top of the table iacovone, it was always going to be difficult to get top spot, but Champions League football could do you wonders. Have to say from looking at your players that I think you can stay up there if you manage to hold on to them.

I have already pre-arranged for two Brazilians to come in January, both can play MC or AMC and are at the same level as Momotenko or better. In January I will decide wether to offload him or just let his contract run out. He is only worth € 10k so I dont think I will get muich for him. I have snapped up a youngster that can do the job in case Momotenko gets injured up until January as well.

Managed to get past the Second Qualifying Round easily in the Europa League, beating Ekranas 5-0 on aggregate. Now I am up against St. Mirren, definately a tougher challenge, but given our results against Ekranas I think I stand a chance.

iacovone - Great season. 2nd is a great result and a place in the Champions League and the money that brings should be a huge help in finessing the squad for a challenge on Inter. Exciting times in Novese!corinthiano - Also a very good season. Great cup run and an early European adventure. I think you're doing the right thing with Momotenko. If he can shake off his injury problems then he has the talent to be a real asset at that level, and in the Premier League too. I'm foreseeing a real promotion push next season. Though the further you climb the more likely it becomes you will beat me to completion!!

Apologies for the triple post but I thought this new youth recruit was deserving of more than being tagged onto another post.

Anyway, my youth academy is really starting to bear fruit as, after producing Pedro Cardoso last year, it produces another corking prospect. Please welcome Paulo Jorge Vieira - born in Angra do Heroísmo just a few minutes from the stadium. Born on 4th October 2014, when his local club were embarking on their first Second League he looks to have a bright future.

iacovone - wow, what progress!! from 10th to 2nd!! fantastic mate - delighted for you. good luck in your CL campaign. great being in there, trust me. was nice to see Natale back, even if it ended up being a little comical!! good luck next season matecorinthiano - well done on reaching the cup final!! enjoy Europe next season - realistically how far do you think you can go?Celticdaft - congrats on the double promotion - good luck next season.Dexter - great season with Messina again - keep up the good work...PRDH - another good prospect there - what are you putting in the water there??? i want some!

I am also very jealous of your latest youth prospects PRDH, they have been looking very good! And I wouldn't worry about me completing the challenge before you. Qualifying for Europe with Real is my biggest achievement since getting Mazagao in the Brazilian Serie A on FM09, I am hardly an expert at this game

rlipscombe - I am not sure tbh, I think we could have enough to beat St. Mirren, but we would probably not be seeded in the final qualifying round and probably get handed tough opposition. I would love to make the group stages, but realistically I dont think it will happen.

Good luck with Burgos dj clark boy

EDIT: Yep, we managed to beat St. Mirren in the Second Qualifying Stage and will face Dinamo in the next round. Think this could be the end of our run, although we certainly could have gotten better teams, Liverpool and Man City were in the draw!

Well, once again we went into the league season predicted to finish in second place. I'm a little hurt if I'm honest, I mean I'd won eight in a row before this season, at what stage am I favourites to win!?

After Fontaine and Jensen left this summer it was with a slightly experimental feel that we started the season. Things came together and we were up with the front runners from the start.

By the halfway point we were top of the league and we were starting to extend our lead and it looked like we were back to our old dominant self. However, once more Porto managed an important win over us. This started a mini wobble where we drew a couple of in theory winnable games. This meant that once again the title game down to the final game of the season. We faced Sporting in Angra do Heroísmo with us sitting three points ahead of them knowing that if we won or drew we would be champions but that Sporting could technically still win if they beat us heavily. We needn't have worried, Edemilson Mendès had put his shooting boots on and he netted a hat trick that saw us emerge as 3-1 victors and collect our ninth consecutive (and tenth overall) Premier League title. Just 24 more to over take Benfica's record!

We sent out the youngsters and we lost. All part of the education though and our early exit meant we had fewer games to worry about as we neared the business end of the season. Surely that could only help our assault on European glory, right?

Well, an easy group was made to look tricky as we put in some poor performances against the likes of Celtic, Liverpool and Standard. Fortunately we snuck through on goal difference at the expense of Celtic.

We were once again rewarded for progress from the group with a nasty next round and for the second year running we were drawn a Milanese club. This time it was Inter rather than AC.

The first leg was at home and we played well but were pegged back to a 2-2 draw thanks to a last minute own goal from Gautier. It meant we faced a real struggle back at the San Siro. Things started badly as we conceded in the 11th minute. They then got worse as Pitoco received two yellow cards in two minutes and watched the remaining seventy minutes from the bench. We went on to lose 3-0 and fall at this hurdle for the sixth time in our history.

Ales Svoboda - 42 apps, 48 conc, 13 cln - He still doesn't inspire constant confidence in me but he's more than adequate in Portugal, and I like to think he's good enough to be part of a proper Champions' League assault if the rest of the team plays properly.

Jonathan Williams - 1 app, 2 conc - Back up this season. The Welsh keeper is decent but is never going to be a world beater.

Defenders

Pitoco - 29(1) apps, 1 gl, 2 asts - Apart from getting sent off when we certainly needed all of our players in the Champions' League he had a decent seasons. Good presence on the right of defence and puts a great shift in up the right side of the pitch.

Sébastien Gautier - 41 apps, 2 gls, 5 asts, 2 MoMs - Another good season for the defender as he cements his position as one of the best defenders around.

Hrvoje Bule - 1app - Croatian defender with bags of potential. Given some time to mature behind the senior players he could be a really interesting player.

Giannis Sentementes - 5(2) apps, 1 gl - The Greek centre half is another who is looking to develop into a first team player.

Meraneh Descazals - 39 apps, 7 gls, 2 asts, 5 MoMs - Made captain after Fontaine's departure and he didn't disappoint as he maintained his form. A disaster for Djibouti as their greatest ever player retired from the international game.

Fortune Garba - 0(1) app - A player with the potential to provide more than adequate back up for the club. He made his debut this season after a few loan spells.

Steve Hoggan - 20(1) apps, 4 asts - American full back got plenty of game time as Osses had problems with injuries. He performed well and impressed me enough to think he's got the potential to make the position his own in the long term.

Mauro - 2 apps - He's stalled slightly, I think he is one who will benefit from time out on loan in the second tier next season to mature and get games under his belt.

Christian Osses - 23 apps, 3 asts - Had some real injury problems this season and the record appearance holder has started to look like age is beginning to catch up on him. We'll see how he fares next year, but it may be time to look at reducing his responsibilities.

Midfielders

Martín Salto - 2(2) apps - Arrived in January to add competition for Fink. I really rate this guy and think he could really go far given time and training.

Tornado - 23(5) apps, 3 gls, 6 asts, 1 MoM - Played second fiddle to Scaricamazza for much of the season but chipped in with some great performances when needed.

Roberto Scaricamazza - [i]23(4) apps, 4 gls, 6 asts, 1 MoM[i] - A good season for the diminutive midfielder schemer as he plotted the team's performances from in front of the defence. He is great at dictating the tempo and very rarely gives the ball away. A really nice option to have in the middle of the park.

Emin Dalkali - 30 apps, 7 gls, 6 asts, 3 MoMs - Built on his breakthrough last year and cemented his position as first choice right winger. He looked good though he could do with becoming a little more clinical.

Mike Okoro - 7(9) apps, 4 gls, 3 asts, 1 MoM - Returned from a few seasons out on loan to play a supporting role to Dalkali and did a fine job. He has many of the same qualities and rarely disappointed when needed.

Stefan Fink - 39 apps, 8 gls, 17 asts, 5 MoMs - The man entrusted with replacing Fontaine and he didn't disappoint. He was fantastic this year, controlling play and laying on plenty of goals for the side. He more than repaid the faith I put in him.

Julius Holm - 2 apps, 1 ast - Brought in as back up for the first half of the season as I waited for Salto to turn 18 and arrive in January. Fortunately he was not needed as I fear his lack of pace may have proved a big hindrance. I have the option to buy him over the summer, but I'm not sure I want to.

Holger Lemke - 8(4) apps, 1 gl, 2 asts - Continued his footballing education this season and played an important role in some good wins. I'm starting to wonder whether he'll make it with us, especially with our new youth player being another to have his eyes on this position.

Héctor Partida - 32 apps, 3 gls, 7 asts - Another to repay the faith I put in him. He was asked to step into the first team and replace Jensen this year and he did so with gusto. He started slowly but really grew into the squad and more than earned his winner's medal.

Álvaro Pinto - 5(10) apps, 1 gl - Another of the growing number of youth team prospects in the first team squad. Again he is continuing to learn his trade but doesn't look entirely out of place and I still believe he can grow into a useful member of the squad.

Forwards

Allan Tranberg - 2(1) apps - His first team opportunities completely evaporated this season as younger players took his place. His future is up in the air at the moment. He's useful back up to have around the squad, but I may look to move him on this year.

Alan Neira - 40 apps, 18 gls, 7 asts, 6 MoMs - The superbly gifted striker had another excellent season for us. It's hard to believe he only cost us £160k when he joined, surely one of the best bargains. He's not prolific but then I don't expect that from the supporting striker. He is there to link play and set up chances for others and he does that beautifully. Also filled in nicely on the wings when required.

Micha Peek - 6(20) apps, 7 gls, 3 asts - Still finds himself limited mainly to appearances off the bench but scored a number of important goals from this situation. He is one I'd be confident of stepping up to the plate if required.

Sidnei Mamede - 0(2) apps - Another to find himself sidelined this year. He is an excellent player and deserves more but with other strikers not being as hit with injuries this year he found himself fall down the pecking order. He is starting to, understandably, want more first team football so may be off over the close season.

Miguel Angel Klein - 0(1) app - Never complains despite spending his life on the very fringes of the squad. I can't see him breaking through any further and is another of my slightly bloated ranks of forwards who may find himself playing his football elsewhere next year.

Edemilson Mendès - 35(5) apps, 26 gls, 10 asts, 5 MoMs - Stayed relatively injury free this season and showed why he is such a useful player to have around. He scores and provides goals in good number and is rapidly constructing a stunning goalscoring record. His league record now stands at 92 in 111 games. Phenomenal.

Rodrigo - 1 app - A youngster who makes me reasonably confident in off-loading some of the other fringe strikers as I see bags of potential in this one. Needs some game time next season is he can get it.

Pedro Cardoso - 4(17) apps, 4 gls, 1 ast - Another of the lads from the island this exciting youngster was mainly restricted to appearances off the bench in the last few minutes as he looks to get a positive start in the game. He got his first goal early in his career as he scored an injury time winner to endear himself still further with the fans. He got a few more this season but most importantly got some great experience and started to improve his physical stats. Something I hope he continues.

Lusitânia Açores Youth Products - A new sub-section of the squad dedicated to those players who've come through the youth set up and seem to have a future in the game. It seems starting it now as I have actually produced some.

Rui Lopes - Class of 2029 - Centre half with all of the technical ability to be a quality defender if he could just hone his physical abilities. Some signs of him managing that this year, but not enough for him to trouble the first team proper. Verdict - Must try harder.

Álvaro Pinto - Class of 2029 - Right winger/Att Midfielder who came through in the same batch as Lopes. He has made more of an impact on the first team so far but that is certainly helped by playing a less vital role which has allowed him to come on towards the ends of games. He has decent physical stats and decent technical abilities but both will need to improve if he is to make a real name for himself. Did score his first goal for the club this season. Verdict - Satisfactory

Pedro Cardoso - Class of 2030 - Striker with all the potential in the world if he can improve his physical presence. He made his debut and grabbed some important late goals, the first of which saw him become the club's youngest ever goalscorer. He has also shown an ability to improve his speed. High hopes remain for this guy. Verdict - Encouraging signs that he could make the grade.

Paulo Jorge Vieira - Class of 2031 - Midfielder who has great technical abilities for his age and reasonable physical stats. He didn't get a chance to get on the pitch this year as the players join the club after the registration window closes but certainly one who will hope to get a chance to shine next season. Verdict - Too soon to say, but signs are encouraging.

Aims For This Season Were...

1/ Get back to my dominant league form. Verdict - Not quite as dominant as I have been, but certainly an improvement.2/ With a nice draw I'd like to get to the CL final. Verdict - Not an easy draw but also did myself no favours and my group performance was scrappy.3/ Blood my youngsters in the cup and ends of league games. Verdict - Success. Pinto and Cardoso got plenty of time on the pitch and showed signs of progression.

Aims For Next Season Are...

1/ It might be time to look for an undefeated season. I'm pretty sure I can do it, I've just had some nasty blips.2/ Progress in Europe would be nice.3/ Continue to give the youth products a chance to shine and improve.

good to see you gain some semblance of control in the league again. CL still proving tricky though - SURELY you will make the breakthrough soon!! some good signings in there too.

I'd like to think so rlips but I don't know what I can do. I don't think my side has any particularly obvious weaknesses, none that can be rectified with the money and draw of Portugal anyway. I was honestly starting to get a bit bored of this constant domestic win/continental failure life but the youth players coming through has livened the whole thing up again.

PRDH - really like the look of Pedro Cardoso. How close is he to being a regular would you say? Technically he's almost at the level of Edemilson Mendes. Although I appreciate Mendes is a bit of a hero

Right then, time to show you my summer purchases for this monumental first season in Europe. I had a whopping £20m to spend (huge for the size of our club - that's just £1m shy of the entire value of the club!) despite having about £1m in the bank.

Olivier Morin & Tete were both brought in on loan from Lazio. They're very much here to plug gaps when needed but both have good potential so it shouldn't be damaging if they do have to play.

Mark Bekker came in to provide competition to Daouda Solo, who although he'd been fantastic for us in the past few years, can still be improved upon. I'll rotate them and see who looks the strongest.

Pirulito came in on loan to provide centre-back cover - read below and you'll know why. And Jeh Sarkar the half-English, half-Indian midfielder will do much the same in providing cover in midfield.

Steve - the best name of any Brazilian ever. £7.75m he cost me, which is a club record but he could be superb up top with Meza Sanchez or Ripa.

The problem with signing Steve is that three others have a 'match highest earner' clause in their contracts. Sneaky b*******. Anyway because of that I suddenly went from £5k under budget to £20k over it . So that meant I had to sell the club captiain Dario Nieva. I'd braced myself for his sale for a while though, so no big deal.

The real big deal is having my keeper Lautaro Corno, Bernardo Velazquez and Christer Nilsson all with just 12 months left on their contracts. I can't sell them so I'm just going to pray that in 6 months time they're happy to sit down and pen a new deal. If I lose all three for peanuts it'll be a crippling blow to my ambitions.

The Champions League group draw has been made and it's a real bugger. We have arguably the three biggest clubs in their respective countries (at a push). Liverpool, Bayern Munich and CSKA Moscow. It'll be a miracle to qualify. Europa League would require something quite magical too. I guess we enjoy it and see what happens.

The CL money we received for getting in the groups is being spent on new youth facilities (at £1.3m) which is another step in the right direction. Other than that, off we go

iacovone - Steve looks like a great player. I'd say Cardoso is very, very close now. He gets on in most games and is definite first reserve for Mendes. It's tricky because he scores so regularly and that makes him quite hard to drop. I'm wondering whether they can play together, but then Neira is great at what he does too.

PRDH - shame you seemed to go back to a familiar story in the CL, but your youth prospects are looking great, hope one of your local boys can fire you to CL glory.

"And as we head into time-added on in the Champions' League final Vieira slides a lovely ball through to Cardoso who takes a touch and calmly puts the ball beyond the reach of opponent's 'keeper and Lusitânia Açores are champions of Europe" *snort* "Huh, what's going on... Oh, it was just a dream..."

We're having another great season. The league will be between us, Inter and Roma. After 17 games we're all on 38 points. It's gonna be tight.

As for contract news, Velazquez and Nilsson signed new deals. Corno won't though and he'll leave on a Bosman in the summer. Big shame but I've already lined up an excellent keeper to replace him.

We've also qualified in second place from our CL group and face Chelsea in the next round. We didn't lose a game in the groups, drawing home and away with Bayern, beating Liverpool and CSKA at home and drawing both away. This is beyond our wildest dreams

That has also meant we've had a wave of cash come into the club. I'd forgotten how much you get through TV revenue! So in January right now and I've snapped up a Brazilian and Argentine pair of DM's. They both look fantastic and the Argie Caro said on arrival that he idolised Moraes the Brazilian! . Moraes is an absolute monster of a player. 6 foot 4 and 20 for strength. Beast

iacovone - They both look great! Is there space for both of them in your team? With your form you could complete this season.

That would be quite something. If we avoid Inter, we've got a chance but I'll take each game as it comes (obviously).

Caro can't play this season unfortunately as he's already played for two teams this season. So Moraes competes for a place alongside Saul Garcia, Christer Nilsson and Ricardo Ledesma. Although the latter has been deployed at centre-back for a portion of the season so far.

My aim for the first half of the season was to try and not lose distance to the top two positions whilst me were kept busy with Europe and the cups. I figured we’d be out of it after Christmas and if we were in a good position for the second half of the season we would be able to go up. We did exactly that and at the half way stage we were third, only 2 points off promotion. We were devastating in the second half of the season with a record of 11-3-1 and guaranteed promotion with a couple of games to go.

I was delighted with our first European adventure! First up we beat Lithuanina side Ekranas quite easily 5-0 on aggregate before scraping past St. Mirren 2-1. When we were drawn against Dinamo in the final qualifying round I did not think we would be able to get into the group stage, but a brilliant 2-1 win in Zagreb meant we could qualify with a draw at home. They battered us but we held on to progress to the group stage!

We were drawn with Ajax, Schalke and Rapid Wien and my target was automatically 3rd place, as I thought Ajax and Schalke would be too good for us. And so it proved to be, with us losing all games against those two. We won 3-2 against Rapid at home, but a 2-1 loss in Wien meant we finished last in the group. I was not too bothered and thoroughly enjoyed the campaign.

We didn’t manage to repeat our good run this year. As a matter of fact we didn’t go far at all. After a 5-0 thumping against non-league side Limianos we were drawn against Liga Zon Sagres side Olhanense away and couldn’t do enough to go further.

A season of many changes. I let go all those average youngsters I brought in when I was first promoted, whilst bringing in some quality loan signings to strengthen the overstretched squad. Again, my big two signings came from Brazil in the January window. Cléber came to take over plamaking duties from Momotenko, whilst Edson came into the supporting striker role, both had an immediate positive impact. I also loaned out quite a few youngsters to 1º Dezembro in order for the to avoid relegation from the third tier. My players helped them do just that with a win in the last game, getting them out of the relegation places on the final day of the season.

GK: Buick – By far the highest rated player in the club. Wanted to leave at the start of the season but I convinced him to stay. Interest is still high though.DR: Antônio – Another one who keeps attracting interest from other clubs.DC: Felipe – Looks like this could be his last season as a starter for the club. After almost 200 league games I feel that he will not be able to make the step up and a new defender is already coming in on a Bosman.DC: Ahmed Yilmaz – Signed on loan for the seond time from Raja Casablanca. Whilst he was just a back-up the first time this time he was a key player in defence, replacing the former captain Eduardo at the back. Will join the club on a Bosman at the start of December.DL: André Dias – Had a decent season, but is another one who I think has gona as far as he can.DMC: Bruno Mendes – Portuguese U21 international and Porto youth product. Was immense this season and there is a lot more to come from him.MC: Esteban Cardona – Came in on loan from Atlético Nacional and even though he is only 18, was ever present in the side. His contract expires at the end of January, hopefully I can snap him up on a free.MC: Illya Momotenko – Started the game as the playmaker but was given a more central midfield role with the arrival of Cléber. Had another 3 month injury this season, but he is too good to let go and still very useful to the squad.AMC: Cléber – My best signing of the season, was key to our brilliant run in the second half of the season.ST: Edson – Came in as aprt of our reshuffle in the front line. I felt we were a bit too slow with Gil and Milton up front, Edson gives us a bit more mobility.ST: Milton – Changed him from a supporting target man to an advanced forward halfway through the season and he has not stopped scoring since then. Lots of interest in him, let’s hope I can keep him.

Other News

Finances – Though European football would guarantee us financially but we leaked so much money that we managed to make a huge loss regardless. Please let the money be better in the first league!

1. Promotion Challenge Success – Always in the mix and promoted quite easily in the end.
2. Enjoy Europe, try to get through one stage Success – Very proud of our European campign, did not think we would make it to the group stages.
3. Strengthen the midfield Success – Three new midfielders in the starting eleven, meaning Momotenko went from essential to useful.

Next Season Targets

1. Survival.
2. Survival!
3. Survival?

It is all about survival this season. The board has raised the wage budget to 26k p/w, but we are still the smallest club in the division by a mile. Our long servong back line is starting to look like it needs replacing, so I will be bringing in some defenders.

Nope, no Champions League for us this year. We lost the home leg 1-0 to Chelsea which really killed us. Gave it a good go at Stamford Bridge but Danny Murphy's boys beat us 2-1. I'm proud though, we created 4 clear cut chances to their 2, just couldn't find the back of the net.

Well, I suppose my mini-run had to come to an end. Had my latest youth recruits through and none of them has the potential to be a world-beater. We got a goalkeeper with decent potential who could become a good back up, but no Cardoso/Vieira this year.

Edit - Champions' League Quarter Final draw has been made and I'm up against Inter. I seem to be magnetically drawn to them at the moment. Faced them in the 1st Knockout Rd last year and then in the group stage this season, and now again. Hopefully at some stage I am due a result against them!

PRDH - Hope you can get through the Quarters aginst Inter, it is quite annoying when you keep coming up against a team you haven't been able to beat.

Life in the top flight has been OK so far, 8 points from the first 6 games see us in mid-table. Don't want to get ahead of myself but I think we should be alright. The gap is certainly smaller than between the third and second tier. All games have been very even and we managed to draw at home to Sporting and even beat Benfica at the Estádio da Luz. Now we just have to make sure we keep getting results.

So that's a no on being due a result then. Headed off to Milan full of hope only to come back on the end of a 4-0 thumping. Can we perform a miracle back on the island? I'm going to go with 'no'. Might concentrate on trying to get the elusive unbeaten Premier League season. 6 games to go and I'm yet to lose, so there is a chance...

Congrats on your good start in the top flight corinthiano. There are certainly some beatable sides in and around the place usually, it's normally pretty tight. Those are some great results against the big boys too. I think it took ages for me to get my first result against one of the big three.

It just gets better and better for little Novese! I honestly thought we'd have to consolidate in Europe this year and it looked that was as Inter stormed to the top of the table as holders. They'd already smashed us in the Supercoppa 4-1 and we accumulated our second loss of the season in just our second game at Napoli. We lost two more league games in the first half of the season but were looking good sitting in 2nd. Inter had dropped off the pace as Fiorentina and Roma vied with us for top spot.

The second half of the league campaign mirrored the first as we lost three times but we hit the summit after 23 games and more-or-less stayed there.

The run-in was excruciating. Us and Fiorentina had emerged as the two runners for the title and locked level on points we embarked on a decisive set of four fixtures that would no doubt decide the destination of the title. First up was a trip to Fiorentina. We had the same number of points with us above them based on our earlier win over them at the Pastorino Stadium. This was a game we should have won but the goals dried up and despite them falling to ten men we couldn't nick a winner.

Next up was Roma at home. We won this 2-0 to maintain our first place position. However a completely unjust 1-0 loss to Juventus meant Fiorentina nipped ahead of us by two points with three games to play. Our 1-0 win over Inter and Fiorentina's surprising loss at Brescia meant that with two games to go we just had to match or better their results. As it was wins over Bologna and Atalanta meant we sealed the title by four points! Results 1 | Results 2ProgessChampions League:This was a bit of a step into the unknown. I knew we were strong in Italy but you can never really know the strength of Europe's best. Our group contained Bayern, Liverpool and CSKA Moscow - tricky to say the least. Nonetheless we were fantastic and finished 2nd in the group having avoided defeat in every game.

The first knockout round paired us with Chelsea but sadly the first leg result killed our chances. The 1-0 home loss meant they had the advantage and an away goal. Though we opened the scoring at Stamford Bridge, we were killed off by a goal either side of half time.

Chelsea went onto win the trophy.
The Cup:

I started by playing a largely reserve team in the early rounds. But the semi-final 4-2 loss at Atalanta changed my thinking. We went strong in the second leg and snatched a dramatic last minute winner to take us to the final on away goals.

The final, though was a big disappointment. Perhaps it was the hangover from the league win. It was a shame not to complete a domestic double, but far from the end of the world.
The Squad:

Goalkeeper:

Lautaro Corno (GK) - one of the few Italian's at the club had a season not quite as good as the year before. But he kept 22 clean sheets and signed a new contract. Good news.

Defenders:

Daouda Solo (DR) - can't keep a good man down! I bought a new right back in the summer but Solo's form kept him out of the team. He's very dependable.

Pirulito (DC) - on loan from Fiorentina and had a storming season once he adapted to the role. Rarely missed a game and only had one notable horror show - in the final against Cesena. Will look to bring him in permanently. Made Serie A Team of the Year.

Ricardo Ledesma (D/DM/MC) - flitted between DM and CB and did both jobs superbly. He's probably our best player but seemingly wants out. I may just take the hit and keep him for one more year until his contract expires.

Midfielders:

Saul Garcia (DC/DM/MC) - not his best season but still gives good depth to the DM and CB positions.

Moraes (DM/MC) - January signing looks like a really good player. The fans love him and he was excellent in his first few months.

Lucas (MC) - shared the playmaker role with Velazquez and naturally did well.

Bernardo Velazquez - (MRC) - much improved again and signed a new long-term contract. He keeps getting better and is first choice ahead of Lucas.

Tete (M/AMC) - came on loan from Lazio and was retrained to AML where he shone. Not a hard worker but a really tricky customer. Another I'll look to sign permanently.

Harold Cardenas (MRC/AMR) - injury hit season but did well when used. He's hit 30 now but I still see another couple of years in and around the first team for this assist-machine.

Ally Guillano (M/AML) - also suffered from a spate of injuries but did well when he was fit. Has a good knack of getting important goals for us.

Karel Pacholik (AMRL/ST) - filled in for both Cardenas and Guillano proving his reliability as a back-up winger and striker.

Forwards:

Carlo Ripa (AMRC/ST) - the club icon continues to score goals when used. Season was broken up a bit as I rotated him with Steve but hit double figures in a season again.

Success! 82 points. Actually one less than last season's haul - showing how much weaker Inter were.

Keep hold of Ledesma, Velazquez, Meza Sanchez and Guillano

Success! Velazquez and Guillano signed new deals. Meza Sanchez wants over £60k p/w for a new deal - way out of our league. He is contracted for another two seasons though. Ledesma is likely to leave at the end of the next campaign as he has no interest in renewing.
New Objectives:

Win back-to-back titles

Go one step further in Europe

Continue to develop the club infrastructure

Again, it'll be hard to match the season we've just had but I feel more confident this time around. A huge £50m transfer budget should help somewhat. Obviously as far as the challenge goes, we have to win the CL to complete it. But there's more I want to achieve. Over time I want us to develop some homegrown talent. We've only ever had one decent player - David Nicolini - and he's our 5th choice striker these days at 22. No-one has come through so I'm hoping the youth facilities upgrades will pay dividends in time.

Great season iacovone! I'm really going to have to up my game if you're not going to beat me to completion now!

It's a mystery why Steve isn't scoring. He looks to have everything you could want. I've had trouble in the past with getting left-footed strikers to play to their best but I got Chrysanthou scoring when he was with me by putting him on the right of the front two.

iacovone - congratulations on your debut title! fantastic achievement. got a real good team going there - Sanchez is immense. good luck in the CL next season.corinthiano - well done on the promotion - good luck in Liga Sagres. unfortunate with the Europa League though it was an adventure and will hopefully hold you in good stead going forwards.

As for Mannheim we have 4 league games to go. are we going to achieve a league and CL double??? Err no.................

I tend to play one striker in an attacking role and one in a suporting role, I feel that there is a better link up with my midfield that way. It is usually a poacher/advanced forward and a supporting complete forward/supporting target man. At the moment I have Milton as the advanced forward and Edson as my supporting complete forward, as he has terrible composure, but is a nuisance and tends to set up a lot of good play.

Meanwhile, I have been linked to every vacancy there has been in the top flight this season. I was favourite for the Vitória Setúbal and Marítimo posts, but only Leiria came in with an offer. Almost More than double my wage budget....oh well.

No real headline exits or acquisitions this year. Longest serving players to leave were Klein and Tranberg both of whom had been around for a while without really reaching the potential I saw in them. There were again a load of loans out to my three Second League feeder teams who are basically becoming another set of reserves for me.

Feels like we've come out of our slump (or as much of a slump as you can have while still winning the league) as we got back to something like our dominance of old. We may have only won the league by two points but realistically it never looked in doubt and the narrow margin is due to a few late draws. More importantly though we went through the league without losing a game. A great achievement and one I've had my eye on for about 5 seasons now. Nice to have achieved it, I don't feel I have to think about it any more.

Rather amazingly, given our domestic dominance, this is only our second win in this cup. We came through with the kids early on before I let the more experienced players take the final. We needed extra time but ran out winners. Mention for the youth product Cardoso who got a late goal to take it to extra time in the first place. Amazingly the final was the only match of the season that 'keeper Svoboda missed as he was away on international duty. It gave a chance to his back up who spectacularly failed to impress!

The youth were again on form in this cup as they dispatched a number of senior sides with consummate ease. When the final came round I accidentally left a few seniors in the side but they still lost. Still, a good run out and nice experience for the young lads.

We found ourselves in a group that looked, in theory, easy to qualify from, if not win with Inter (as always it seems), Basel and Feyenoord. We made pretty light work of it on the whole managing to qualify top thanks to some slip ups from Inter.

After the group we were drawn Sevilla. I honestly didn't know much about them beyond the fact that they had a couple of old boys (Athmani and Jensen for those of you with long memories) in the squad. We dominated both legs but couldn't find the breakthrough until extra time in the second game when Descazals rose to head home a corner in the 116th minute to put us into the Quarters.

So, onwards into the Quarters and we were up against Inter again. We've not had much luck against them in the past. We grabbed a win at home in the group stage but lost away. We started the tie in Milan hoping to keep it tight and make it back to the Azores with a chance to grab a result. It wasn't to be as we went down to a 4-0 defeat. We never really got going and the tie was dead long before the second leg started.

We managed to save some face and entertain the fans back in the Atlantic as we played out a thrilling affair with Inter with occasional flashes of hope that weren't to be. A 5-3 win was our reward and indication that we can mix it with the big boys in our back yard at least.

Ales Svoboda - 52 apps, 47 conc, 24 cln, 2 MoM - Something of a return to form for the Czech stopper as he played in all but one game (including cups) missing out on the cup final while he was on international duty. He has reaffirmed my faith in him as my number 1.

Jonathan Williams - 1 app, 2 conc - Potentially a bit harsh to judge him on one appearance in the cup final, but he looked very ordinary. I'm looking to sell in the summer. None of the keepers get past Svoboda at the moment so I may as well find some cheaper cover. Plus there's a youngster to detail later.

Defenders

Pitoco - 47 apps, 6 asts, 1 MoM - The Brazilian, wait, sorry, he's Italian now full back had another impressive season at the back breaking up play and using his engine to support play up the right. He's a very good player. Surprised he's not attracted more interest from other teams if I'm honest.

Sébastien Gautier - 47 apps, 3 gls, 1 MoM - Not quite at his best this season, but even short of what he can do he is a formidable player in the heart of defence. He was installed as vice-captain this year and seemed to like it.

Hrvoje Bule - 10(2) apps, 1 gl, 1 ast - Part of the cup squad who got some league game time due to injuries. He isn't progressing as quickly as I hoped but he still looks like he'll become a useful player.

Rui Lopes - 4(2) apps, 1 ast - Another to get some cup game time. The youth team graduate is slowly improving his physical stats (the only thing separating him from more game time) so it's looking encouraging. He'll obviously get more time to prove himself as he's a local lad.

Meraneh Descazals - 41 apps, 9 gls, 2 asts, 4 MoMs - Even at 31 he is still improving his game. Tied him down to a five-year deal in the summer which will probably see him finish his career with us. What's more impressive is that, given his age, his physical stats are still phenomenal. He could still have a while left in those legs as long as he can avoid any nasty injuries.

Jaimy van Putten - 6(3) apps - He's done his job as back up and when I get rid at the end of the season I will have made a profit on him, so I feel he's served his purpose well.

Steve Hoggan - 22(1) apps, 3 asts - Looking like he might have to step in more and more to cover for Osses who appears to have just started to lose his edge. Hoggan has performed well enough whenever needed so I'm not too worried but I remain unconvinced about whether he can be the left back to take us to Champions' League glory, which is obviously the ultimate goal.

Christian Osses - 31 apps, 1 gl, 1 ast, 1 MoM - His time as undisputed first choice is, I think, probably over, but he is certainly useful experience and an option to have around still.

Midfielders

Martín Salto - 8(5) apps, 2 gls, 1 MoM - A player I really need to start getting onto the pitch more, he has bags of potential but has so far been limited to the cup games to show his talent. I think he really can get to the highest level. It's tricky with how well Fink is playing, but next season I want to see him shine.

Carlo Galli - 5 apps, 1ast - Another from the cup squad. He looks like he's got a decent future in the game and will be playing back up next season. See what he can do.

Kim Kae-Chun - [i]0(2) apps[i] - Arrived in January and got some cup time under his belt this season, but I think he's one for the next few years. He looks like a cracking prospect to me. Will be interested to see whether he stays with Belgium or goes for the earlier international football opportunity of S Korea.

Tornado - 6 apps, 1 ast - His game time fell away this year and he's off over the summer. He's never quite achieved what I hoped he would here, but he's been by no means a flop.

Roberto Scaricamazza - 42(1) apps, 6 gls, 13 asts, 1 MoM - Really showed what he can do this season. He was in cracking form and pulled the strings alongside Partida beautifully.

Emin Dalkali - 31(2) apps, 7 gls, 8 asts, 2 MoMs - Still the man to dislodge on the right wing but came under increasing pressure form a resurgent Okoro who started the season in stunning form.

Mike Okoro - 13(14) apps, 3 gls, 6 asts - Really started the season with a bang. Tailed off slightly as the year went on but showed enough to justify his place in the squad.

Stefan Fink - 43 apps, 10 gls, 20 asts, 7 MoMs - Continues to mock me for being worried about him stepping up to first choice. Another cracking season and he is really growing as a player.

Antonin Zak - 2(1) apps - Something of a mini-me to Fink, he has a very similar set of skills as Fink did when he arrived. Hopefully he can progress in a similar vein.

Holger Lemke - 1 app - The emergence of Vieira as serious competition for Partida has not done the young Austrian any favours and I think it might be time for him to move on, at least on loan, as he's not going to get the game time here at the moment that he needs to progress.

Paulo Jorge Vieira - 8(32) apps, 1 gl, 5 asts - Got some great experience this season in the cup and at the ends of games. He has improved in raining and showed he can mix it on the pitch. Very encouraging season.

Héctor Partida - 44 apps, 11 gls, 16 asts, 3 MoMs - Another to really kick on again this season. His record speaks for himself, he's shown why I was so excited about him when I first spotted him as a 15-year-old.

Álvaro Pinto - 9(6) apps, 4 asts - Got some good game time in the cups and showed moments of skill. I don't think he'll develop into a first choice winger, but I can see him being a useful back up for years to come.

Forwards

Alan Neira - 40(3) apps, 14 gls, 16 asts, 4 MoMs - Alan had a difficult season, he lurched through a couple of horrible goal droughts where he looked as if he may never score again. Fortunately he kept playing well and got a decent number of goals anyway. First and foremost though his role is to link play and his ability to do that was never in doubt.

Micha Peek - 12(11) apps, 8 gls, 1 ast, 2 MoMs - I feel for this lad. He was just on the cusp of a serious breakthrough when Cardoso popped up. He's not going to compete with a local lad for my affections so his playing time leaked away. It's for that reason I'm letting him go. I may live to regret this as I think he will go on to be a world class player, he's just not the same as one I've got through the academy. He is off to Malaga.

Mihajlo Djokovic - 4 apps, 4 gls, 4 asts Arrived in January and went straight into the cup squad - where he was phenomenal. He is technically very good already and can, as far as I can see, go as far as he wants in the game. I see him as a long term replacement for Neira. My only concern is his one-footedness but I'm sure we can work around that if he shows enough.

Rogrigo - 4(2) apps, 6 gls, 2 asts, 2 MoMs - His performances in the reserves and cup squad were part of the reason I felt able to let Peek move on. He was excellent when given the chance. Big chance for him next season.

Pedro Cardoso - 12(27) apps, 17 gls, 4 asts, 4 MoMs - The potential star's career is progressing nicely after being fed into the starting line up more this season. He got more game time and proved himself as a viable alternative to Mendès as he bagged 17 goals in all competitions - a fantastic haul for an 18-year-old who made a two-thirds of his appearances from the bench.

End of Term Reports from the Lusitânia Açores Crèche

Rui Lopes - Class of '29 - He is steadily improving the areas of his game that are lacking and for that reason he is starting to get more of a chance. I'm contemplating a loan move for him to get a season of first team football but I am, as yet, undecided. Verdict - Looks to be turning it round.

Pedro Cardoso - Class of '30 - Great progress in his second season. Some excellent performances and the goals to prove it. Verdict - Top of the class

Paulo Jorge Vieira - Class of '31 - Very encouraging start to his career. He didn't look out of place on the pitch and will be looking for a few more starts next season. Verdict - Showing moments of real class.

Ricardo Dias - Class of '32 - The most encouraging prospect this year was a 'keeper. Not yet ready for the first team, but will be installed as number 2 next year. There were also a few other promising players, who may make it onto here if they progress well. Verdict - Too soon to say

Aims For This Season Were...

1/ It might be time to look for an undefeated season. I'm pretty sure I can do it, I've just had some nasty blips. Verdict - Surpisingly - yes!2/ Progress in Europe would be nice. Verdict - Not really, no. Still fell down at the first sign of a superpower.3/ Continue to give the youth products a chance to shine and improve. Verdict - A resounding yes. All of them got on the pitch and impressed to various degrees.

PRDH - congrats on your undefeated season. a massive achievement no matter what league you play. you seem to be making some progress in europe too so hopefully you can start reaching the latter stages soon.iacovone - in terms of my strikers, i play with 1 x AF on attacking and 1 x TM on attacking. seem to work pretty well for me overall

As for Mannheim, the season is complete. may take a couple of days or so to get the review done though as bit busy at moment.

good to see some solid progress in the challenge...congrats on the league win iacovone

as for Ac Viseu, this season has started really well, currently 5 points clear at the top, almost halfway through the league season. Also, having seen an away tie in the Taca de Portugal against Benfica boost the coffers last season, this seasons cup run now sees us travel to play Porto. Should go a long way towards helping the bank balance. All i can really hope for from the tie...will keep you all updated

Looking at your squad you seem to have had the same issue as me, so I'd like to ask you a question. How many decent Portuguese players are there around in your game? In my save all the clubs have slowly begun flooding their team with foreigners and they all look a lot better than the local guys around. I only have one Portuguese player in my first team, but even he will be replaced by an Egyptian in January. I am starting to think that once I am qualifying for Europe I will have to bring in foreigners before they are 18 to be able to fill the homegorwn quota, is that how you got round it?

corinthiano - Yeah. Not many good Portuguese players about. It's starting to pick up now, but it's been tough. The national team was, for a time, full of players I'd signed from abroad. We had a Russian, Ukrainian and Frenchman in the national team who were there ahead of anything homegrown. The number of my youth players in the U-21s etc is phenomenal considering how poor a lot of them are.

Yeah, I have a lot of players who've signed early. 16 of my team are homegrown either at the club or in the nation and another eight are on their way to that. Buying young seems to be the only way to do it. More established players don't want to come to Portugal, you've got to get them in early and hang on as long as possible.

[edit] - I'm having a weird off-season here. Spending a lot of it trying to get rid of players who've spent time out on loan, aren't good enough for my first team but are unwilling to go out on loan again. It's quite frustrating. My squad is getting to big. Some of the deadwood needs to be cut but finding buyers is tricky.

It's meant I've not actually put much thought into strengthening my own first team.

I'm planning on attempting to field a team for the League Cup made up entirely of home-grown talent, and here are a couple of the other players who emerged from the academy last year. I don't think there on a par with Cardoso or Vieira but they may have enough about them to turn into useful squad players. They will join the creche section next update.

Abakar Tigabe - Born in Chad but a product of our youth set up, this member of the class of '32 doesn't appear to have the same potential as Cardoso but I have a feeling he could become a decent squad player, and perhaps, with a bit of luck, trouble the first team occasionally.

Miguel Teixeira - Is Teixeira, born on the island of Sao Miguel and who also graduated from the academy in '32, the future midfield partner of Vieira? Maybe not, but if I can get his training right he could become a Premier League level player.

Thing is if he or his family asked for asylum in mainland portugal I can kinda understand it or something along those lines. But the Azores are so out of the bloody way I really cant imagine anyone not portuguese living there! Very petty of me, was just something I found amusing to imagine.

PRDH - it looks like your academy is really beginning to bear fruit. I've still only had one player in 19 seasons worthy of a place in the squad (Nicolini). I'm hoping the facilities upgrade that's happening now will make a difference in the future.

And as for corinthiano's question on home grown players, I'm having similar problems in Italy. Basically my entire team (aside from keeper and 3rd choice striker) is foreign. It's the case across the league as well. As such, Italy have been really poor internationally and are currently ranked 10th.

Where are Portugal ranked on your games?

As for my off-season, it's been eventful. £30m has been spent and the wage budget is now full

Looking forward to introducing you to the two new £15m men! (though one just got a double hernia in pre-season and is out for 6 weeks

iacovone - Yeah, it seems last year's intake produced more players who could be decent than before, but didn't get the one total standout. Although Dias is progressing quite nicely.

iacovone/corinthiano - It's odd isn't it. In my game last year, based in Spain, Portugal, and especially the big three, were churning out players good enough for the top teams. But this year there hasn't been as much.

The national team are ranked 9th in my game, which probably isn't that bad, not compared to 10th for Italy anyway! and in terms of coefficients we're 7th.

Just as a demonstration of the dearth of talent being produced in Portugal I'll give you a quick run down of where the current Portugal squad (picked purely randomly in terms of doing it now) were born. 11 in Portugal, 6 in Brazil, 1 in Argentina, 2 in France, 1 in Germany, 1 in Italy and 1 in Croatia. So more than 50% of the national side have qualified through other means than birth, mostly through spending the time playing in the league.

Perhaps unsurprisingly there is a split on where they are playing too. There is only Portuguese-born player in the squad who is playing in Portugal (a thoroughly mediocre 23-year-old at Sporting) otherwise all the actual players from Portugal are abroad and the players based in Portugal are those who have come from overseas.

Just as a demonstration of the dearth of talent being produced in Portugal I'll give you a quick run down of where the current Portugal squad (picked purely randomly in terms of doing it now) were born. 11 in Portugal, 6 in Brazil, 1 in Argentina, 2 in France, 1 in Germany, 1 in Italy and 1 in Croatia. So more than 50% of the national side have qualified through other means than birth, mostly through spending the time playing in the league.

That's really interesting. I just did a quick snapshot of the current Italy squad and it's shocking!

Born in:

Brazil: 8
Italy: 7
Argentina: 6
France: 1

So from 22 players, only SEVEN were born in Italy!

I'm genuinely stunned by that. I'm hereby making it an official objective of Novese to build youth facilities good enough to bring in Italian talent. Of course, there's nothing wrong with having foreign born Italians but it'd be nice if I could take the Azzurri back to being purely Italian. We shall see how that works out!

As for this year's Champions League we've been drawn in an easier group than last year so I'm happy:

Weird stat I've just discovered in my game. Only four players have been crowned Central Defender of the Year since I started playing. First two years Ezequiel Garay won it, then Neutron took it three years running. Stefan Savic took the next seven awards taking us to 2023 and since then it's been won by my man Descazals every year (nine times).

Good news. The training facilities are now good whilst the youth facilities are up to basic. Can't believe they were so low in the first place to be honest! Anyway the board have agreed to upgrade the youth facilities again at a cost of £1.3m.

I'm in the midst of a Cup game against some real minnows. I've managed to put out a team comprising 7 youth team products plus some assorted other youngsters. We won 6-0. Including four assists for Pinto, two goals for Tigabe and one apiece for Vieira and Cardoso. Well done boys.

[edit] - But the proper team went out and lost the next game. First loss in 47 games.

That's really interesting. I just did a quick snapshot of the current Italy squad and it's shocking!

Born in:

Brazil: 8
Italy: 7
Argentina: 6
France: 1

So from 22 players, only SEVEN were born in Italy!

I am not as far into the game, so there are still original players in the national squad. However, from the regens, about half are born elsewhere, coming from youth academies at Chelsea, Roma and Real Madrid. The national team is 7th in the World Rankings and finished 4th in the last WC, so their performances have still been OK.

As for Real, things are not quite as easy as I would have hoped. With 5 games to go we are 2 points ahead of the relegation zone in 13th. Paços Ferreira are already down and basically the fight to avoi the second sport is between us, Rio Ave and Vit. Setúbal. We play both teams at home, if we can win against both and get one more win out of the 3 other games we will surely be safe. It will be a tense finale though...

Thanks, we did it! I find it amazing how time and time again we manage to get the results when it matters. Out of the last 5 games we won 4, only losing away to Porto. This means we finished the season in 9th, a glance at the table gives a very misleading indication we were far off relegation!

That's great corinthiano, you must have a very determined squad! Congrats.

As for Novese - we've just faced Manchester City away in the first leg of the first knockout round (after winning all six group games) and came away with an excellent 2-2 draw! I thought we'd won it scoring in the 90th minute but they equalised with the last kick of the game in the 95th minute

Still, two away goals puts us in a commanding position.

As for the league, we're 9 points clear with 14 games to play. This has been a superb season so far. (and that right there is the jinx...!)

I wish my team were at a stage where I was disappointed by a 2-2 away draw in the Champions League iacovone! I've got Sevilla in the 1st Knockout Rd again this year. I dominated the tie last season which makes me hopeful, but I still required extra time after neither team scored in either leg so it could be a nerve-wracking game!

[edit] - And the award for most insulting transfer bid goes to Porto who bid £3m for Cardoso. There wasn't an option that adequately summed up where and how hard they could shove it.

Through to the quarters (again) after beating Sevilla over two legs (again). A better tie than last year's snoozefest. A 2-1 win at home followed by a 2-2 draw in Spain.

[edit] - It's also that time of the season when I introduce the latest player to come through my youth academy. It seems a rather fitting time to be writing this as I'm also in the midst of a League Cup semi-final game that my team (which includes eight youth prospects) is currently 3-0 up.

Anyway, enough background, let's wheel the new lad out. Another very locally born guy, from Angra do Heroísmo (probably within sight of the stadium given how small the city is! He's not in the Vieira/Cardoso league, but he's certainly got talent. He's a new centre back called João Paulo. He needs to work on his positioning, but he's decent at tackling/marking already and has reasonably strong physical stats too. Definitely one who can develop into a squad player if handled properly.

Well he's just become the club's youngest ever goalscorer with a goal in the League Cup final (part of my 'use as many home-grown talents as possible' policy in that competition). He's overtaken Tigabe who overtook Cardoso at the beginning of the season.

We received a rather paltry £6m for Champions' League TV money this season which seemed a bit harsh and immediately went out on maintenance. That's why our balance has dropped a little. We're still in a fairly comfortable financial situation though so I'm reasonably happy.

The summer window saw a couple of established players leave and a host of youngsters who'd not lived up to there potential. The business though made sure we made a net profit on transfers again though.

Not as comfortable as last season. We lost a few games and were involved in a really tight race until our game against Porto in the Azores when we pulled of an unusual 5-0 victory with three of the goals scored by Porto players.

Generally though the players were impressive. The young local lads got some good game time and were impressive.

As promised I used the other cups to give as many homegrown academy players a chance as possible. The lads were real heroes. We played as many youth teamers as possible filling out the remaining places with other youngsters. The final against Porto saw nine players who graduated from the academy on the pitch. Porto put out a full strength side but we still emerged as 4-2 winners. Incredible spirit from the players. Very proud of this result.

Deja vu for the squad in this round as we came up against Sevilla for the second year running. A good performance in Angra saw us take a 2-1 lead to Spain where we secured a 2-2 draw to progress to the Quarters.

After being drawn against Liverpool I thought I stood a chance of making it to the semis. I was wrong. A decent performance at Anfield saw us get an away goal but give away a couple of silly goals. Still, 2-0 at home. That's possible right? No. A dodgy performance saw us grab a 2-2 draw. Not enough to see us through. Liverpool went on to lose in extra time to Barcelona in the final.

Ales Svoboda - 40 apps, 34 conc, 20 cln, 1 MoM - Ales continued as number 1 this season and played pretty well as he picked up another title winner's medal.

Ricardo Dias - 13(4) apps, 7 conc, 11 cln, 1 MoM - A promising start to the young academy keeper's career. He took charge of the cup competitions picking up wins in both. Definitely one for the future.

Defenders

Pitoco - 39 apps, 6 asts, 2 MoMs - Another solid season for the full back. Didn't get his name on the scoresheet but laid a few on for his teammates.

Silvio Nicastro - 42 apps, 1 gl, 5 asts, 1 MoM - An excellent first season at the club for the Italian full back. Joined on loan at the start of the season but did enough to convince me to sign him up permanently in January. Exciting future for this guy.

Sébastien Gautier - 42 apps, 6 gls, 2 MoMs - The defensive monster continued to dominate the league. He's a brute of a player and he's done a fantastic job for the club.

Hrvoje Bule - 5 apps, 1 ast, 1 MoM - Not progressing quite as well as he could. He's been relegated to the cup squad this year. May have to reevaluate where his career is going over the next year.

Giannis Sentementes - 3(1) apps, 1 gl - Another who hasn't quite done what I thought they might. We'll see what his future holds over the next few months.

Rui Lopes - 12(9) apps, 1 ast - The academy player had a good season. He's worked well on his physical stats and is becoming a player I will trust with a first team spot.

João Paulo - 2 apps, 1 gl - He only emerged from the academy this season but due to my policy of throwing the academy players in at the deep end he went straight into the cup squad. Playing in the final of two cup competitions scoring a goal in one of them. Encouraging start for the lad from Angra.

Meraneh Descazals - 42(1) apps, 9 gls, 4 asts, 2 MoMs - Club captain, record appearance maker and scorer of more than 100 goals from the centre of defence this guy is an absolute legend. He's started to show a bit of decline in his physical stats but they were so fantastic initially that they're still some of the best around. No sign of him losing his place yet.

Abdulla Adam - 12 apps, 1 gl, 3 asts, 1 MoM - The first Qatari to play for the club. He arrived on a free as back up for Pitoco and that's what he primarily was. Got a few cup games before a youngster could be found to fill that place.

Stipe Pesic - 2(1) apps - The man who took Adam's place in the cup squad. Very young, very exciting. If he trains well and I blood him sensibly then he could be a fantastic player for the club.

Steve Hoggan - 0(2) apps - The emergence of Nicastro dealt Hoggan a blow in his attempts to secure a first team place. Another one who I have some decisions to make on.

Christian Minniti - 11 apps - The cup left back performed admirable. His presence is another blow for Hoggan.

Christian Osses - 0(1) app - Age has probably caught up with him a bit here. Lost his place to a younger player and has been struggling for a couple of years. After 14 years at the club and 477 appearances he is off to pastures new at the end of his contract.

Midfielders

Martín Salto - 6(5) apps, 4 gls, 3 asts, 1 MoM - Not as much of a chance as he'd have liked this year, but when he gets on the pitch he performs. Lets see if I can keep him happy with limited game time because he could be great.

Carlo Galli - 3(4) apps, 3 asts - Not much of a part in the squad for this guy really. He's a good player, and I think he's off at the end of the season. His replacements will come from within the club as there are a couple of youngsters snapping around the fringes.

Kim Jae-Chun - 0(1) apps - One of the reasons Galli can go. Excited about his prospects and would like to see him get more game time next season.

Miguel Teixeira - 12(1) apps, 1 gl, 1 ast - Another academy boy to make great strides this year. He played in the cups and got on in the league a couple of times. He's shown remarkable improvement and he can certainly mature into a squad player.

Roberto Scaricamazza - 38 apps, 3 gls, 12 asts, 1 MoM - The man the kids have got to displace. He's a great player in the middle of the park and can really grab a game and dictate tempo. Definitely a big part of our league success this year.

Emin Dalkali - 32(2) apps, 7 gls, 13 asts, 1 MoM - Found his place under threat a bit this year. Still made the lion's share of appearances but didn't quite have the spark of previous years.

Mike Okoro - 8(7) apps, 4 gls, 4 asts, 2 MoMs - Put some pressure on Dalkali but really turned it on in the Champions' League. He was superb in Europe but I'm not sure he's first team material.

Stefan Fink - 39 apps, 8 gls, 17 asts, 3 MoMs - The reason Salto isn't getting as much time on the pitch as he'd like. Fink continues to be a big part of this team. He really will take some shifting.

Antonin Zak - 8(3) apps, 3 gls, 4 asts, 1 MoM - Exciting player. Big part of the cup squad and performed well. Will he develop into a first teamer? I don't know, but he's got a chance.

Paulo Jorge Vieira - 35(11) apps, 5 gls, 14 asts - Real breakthrough season for the academy player. Got a lot of game time as Partida struggled with injuries but he didn't put a foot wrong when he played. He has a huge future at the club and in football generally.

Jorge Mendes - 0(6) apps - Another guy to emerge from the academy. He's not of the calibre of some of them, but I think I can develop him into a decent squad player.

Héctor Partida - 22(2) apps, 1 gl, 9 asts - Struggled with keeping this fit this season and that gave Vieira the chance to nab his place. He'll have to work hard to get it back.

Álvaro Pinto - 13(10) apps, 3 gls, 11 asts, 1 MoM - The academy winger was a colossal presence in the cup squads and got some game time in the league too. Another I think can develop into a nice squad player.

Forwards

Alan Neira - 34(1) apps, 20 gls, 14 asts, 7 MoMs - This season he took up Portuguese citizenship and was thrown straight into his adopted country's international set up. I hope he can have as much impact there as he has for me because he's been a huge part of the team I've built. He was another to struggle slightly with injury but scored a good few goals and laid on even more.

Mihaljo Djokovic - 0(1) apps - He's a cracking youngster with a cracking future, hope to give him a bit more time on the pitch next year.

Edemilson Mendès - 29(5) apps, 23 gls, 3 asts, 6 MoMs - Not quite the dominant form of recently but I don't really think I can complain with his goal return. He's broken the goalscoring record for the club, but Cardoso is really closing in on stealing his place.

Rodrigo - 0(3) apps - He's a cracking player but he's having real issues getting into the team. I may have to let him flourish elsewhere.

Joaquim Sousa - 0(2) apps, 1 gl - Took a bit of a risk on this youngster. He was at Braga where he had stalled massively but when I found him on a free I thought it was worth a punt. He's improved a lot with me and got less raw. He's a tricky one to judge. If people come in for him I'd probably let him go for the right price, but I'm not going to force him out at the moment.

Pedro Cardoso - 28(17) apps, 34 gls, 6 asts, 6 MoMs - Academy graduate who is really pushing to be first choice in the advanced forward role. He's scoring more consistently as he matures and has already passed 50 for the club. Next year might see him displace Mendes from the first team completely.

Abakar Tigabe - 11(1) apps, 6 gls, 2 asts, 1 MoM - Another through the academy. He's a rough diamond at the moment, but he's still only 16. An important part of the cup squad that was so successful he also made his league debut and grabbed a goal. Another I think has a future as a squad player.

1/ Progress in Europe - Ish. Decent effort. Quarters again. Need to kick on soon, surely.2/ Continue to blood the academy graduates. - Yes. The youngsters got plenty of time on the pitch and all showed signs of improvement.

Aims For Next Season Are...

1/ Champions' League semi final should be a minimum after this amount of time.2/ Continue building the future of our youngsters.3/ Thin out some of those who haven't quite made it.

PRDH, very good season domestically and at least it looks like now you are always making it to the Quarters of the CL instead of last 16. Nice to see so many youngsters getting playing time as well and Cardoso looks like he is ready to be in the first team.

I had my brother visiting this weekend so had to do some sightseeing, but I drove past my feeder club stadium which was quite interesting, will post up my league summary in an hour or so and then start the next season

The league table really does give a misleading view of how our season really went. We were scraping for survival pretty much all season, our inability to score goals being the biggest problem. But as has been the case for Real in the last few years the team rallied together and got us 5 wins in the last 6 games, the only defeat coming away against Porto and saw us lift to the mid-table, a whole 10 points above the relegation zone.

A lot of movement again as I went about strengthening and adding depth to our defence. Brought in 3 new players for our back-line, as well as 2 new midfielders. Also signed a few promising youngsters who are back-up for now, but could play a part in the team in future.

GK: Buick – Keeps doing an excellent job for the side, got injured half way through the season and missed out on a few games for the first time, but as soon as he was fit he was back in the team.DR: Antônio – The only one to survive in the back four, but I don’t think this will last long as I am looking for someone to replace him.DC: Menno Koops – He was on loan to a third tier side last season, but was clearly above that level and when I saw that his contract at AZ was expiring I did not hesitate to sign him. Did a pretty good job at the back.DC: Eid Sayed – The Egyptian is very solid and was a much welcome addition at the winter break.DL: Seyithan Bilir – Initially I only brought him in as a backup, but he improved so much in so little time that he was put in the first team, think he can get a lot better as well in the next few seasons.DMC: Ahmed Fawzy – Another Egyptian who was immense for us, Fawzy claimed the Anchor Man role for himself.MC: Esteban Cardona – After the successful loan spell last season I just had to bring him in, so delighted Atlético Nacional didn’t renew his contract!MC: Emil Nowak – Another one brought in on a free, still young and already very good, him and Cardona are forming an awesome partnership in the centre of the field.AMC: Cléber – I just don’t think he is Liga Zon Sagres material. I tend to blahe him for our lack of firepower and have already pre-arranged singing a Roma youngster on a free to replace him.ST: Edson –Not as effective this season, like the whole attack, am expecting better next season. ST: Milton – Same as Edson, am hoping he will improve with better service next season.

Other News

Finances – Awful as ever, I have to start getting into Europe or start selling players so I can get out of this mess.

Considering that Vit. Guimarães are back up and that we are not totally settled in this division I would be happy just to stay out of a relegation fight. I am also hoping we can create more chances and score more goals and am looking at a new playmaker to help me with that. Finally, whilst I think it will be very difficult in our current situation, it would be nice not to lose money this year.

Yeah, Cardoso has started the new season as first choice. Not so sure about the Champions League quarters this year. Been drawn a brute of a group. Barcelona, me, Juventus and Wisla Krakow. To make things worse in my first game I went off to Krakow and lost. Not even sure I'm going to make it through the group this year!